Category Archives: Teaching

Workbook for Tannenbaum’s Excursions… (+ RL moore rant)

The linked PDF is a Workbook for a semester-long course using Tannenbaum’s Excursions in Modern Mathematics. I used them as lecture notes at Austin Community College. The general approach is that of “discovery learning”. I’m a recovering fan of the Moore method (see rant below). Topics: Voting theory/Arrow’s Theorem (1 chapter) Fair division (1 chapter) […]



Capital for STEM majors (works in progress)

1. Extracting surplus value from workers I use this applet when teaching the x and y axis to adults. Here’s the handout we work through together in class. Source: Capital, Vol. 1, Ch. 11 2. Distributions of market prices and the formation of a general rate of profit The applet pictured above illustrates the mathematical […]



Labor and capital in Quantitative Reasoning

The worksheets linked below develop financial and economic themes, including labor exploitation, throughout the first half of our Quantitative Reasoning course (up to the Financial Math unit). For example, Worksheet 2 draws a connection between hourly wage rates—which students understand intuitively from everyday life—and proportion equations for similar triangles. The mathematical model of labor exploitation […]